This invention relates to bread slicing machines, and more particularly to a variable thickness bread slicer as for delicatessens, bakery stores, restaurants and the like, where it is desirable to be able to slice bread in varying thicknesses.
Conventional bread slicers are typically set up to slice loaves of bread to a specific thickness. Standard bread slice thickness is one-half inch, deli bread thickness is one-quarter to three-eighths inch, and garlic bread or French bread is up to one inch in thickness. In small bakeries where the bread is sold to customers directly, or other similar situations, it would be desirable to be able to adjust the slicer from one thickness to another quickly, even for successive loaves of bread for successive customers. However, known slicers require substantial disassembly and reassembly by a knowledgeable person over a period of 15 to 30 minutes, to change the slicing thickness. Indeed, some slicers are not subject to any variation at all.
There is a need in the market for a powered bread slicer which can slice one loaf to a particular slice thickness, e.g., one-half inch, readily slice the next loaf to another thickness, e.g., three-eighths inch, slice the third loaf to a third thickness, e.g., one inch or so, and so forth, without significant time delay or complexity.